6 questions the St. Louis Cardinals must answer in 2025

4. Will the Cardinals finally receive their answer at catcher?

This question was not likely to be answered regardless of what happened this Spring Training. After Willson Contreras was announced as the team's first baseman going forward, Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages were expected to start the 2025 season in St. Louis. The two catchers saw pretty equal playing time last year and demonstrated their different strengths. Herrera was always projected to be a quality hitter and he certainly was during his 72 games with the Cardinals. If he had enough at-bats to qualify, he would have easily led the team in batting average (.301) and been second on the team to Contreras with a 124 OPS+.

The catcher from Panama had a massive issue controlling the running game, throwing out only 6.8% of base stealers which he attributed to arm issues. He spent this past offseason at Driveline, who typically works with pitchers, to bolster his arm health. Where Herrera struggled is where Pages succeeds. Pages has continually been rated as an above-average defensive catcher, and, while he did not quite reach that level in his rookie season, his 14 runners caught stealing was still a step up from Herrera. The 25-year-old from Florida Atlantic did hit seven homers last season but only put up a .657 OPS in his 202 at-bats.

Answering this question will depend on Marmol and management's preference for offense or defense behind the plate. What would make the decision easy, of course, would be either of these catchers significantly improving in their deficiency and taking hold of the daily spot. Herrera appears to be the one who is going to receive the majority of the starting nods to begin the year, but it may be closer to a 60-40 split of playing time with Pages. If Herrera's arm continues to be an issue behind the plate and pitchers prefer the receiving ability of Pages, then Marmol may opt for the backup if there is not a huge drop-off offensively.

The team has struggled to replace Yadier Molina since his departure in 2022, but even then, their catching development was not a priority, and they used that depth to their advantage on the trade market. The Cardinals have traditionally centered on strong defense behind the plate, but with the potential implementation of the ABS system, there may be less emphasis on receiving ability in the future. To fully take hold of the spot, then, Herrera will have to show a big jump in his arm strength.

Behind these two options are more players with potential. Jimmy Crooks is the team's number-four prospect and was featured in the Spring Breakout game. He will be competing with number-seven prospect Leonardo Bernal for the starting job at Triple-A Memphis. The 21-year-old Bernal was a standout this spring in limited appearances, hitting two homers in 13 at-bats. If either of these two puts up a massive performance in AAA, the Cardinals could again deal from their catching depth to address needs at another position depending on how the Major League club is performing at the time.